Rumors are starting to circulate that he is out. Not good enough. He and anyone else who knew and didn't report it to the police should be arrested. :mad:
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Rumors are starting to circulate that he is out. Not good enough. He and anyone else who knew and didn't report it to the police should be arrested. :mad:
Listen, I don't pretend to know all the details but from what I've heard thus far I tend to agree with you.
I can't rationalize Paterno's response here. If that was me, you'd have had to pry me off of Sandusky to prevent me from choking the life out of him (figuratively speaking).
At a minimum, I can't fathom not immediately calling the police. I don't see any way JoePa can survive this. Nor should he.
What I have read today, details of which Intercot's TOS do not allow repeating, left me speechless. If Joe really was told what the Graduate Assistant claims he told Joe, then tar and feathering would be appropriate.
I believe Joe released a statement claiming to have not been told the details the GA claims to have relayed, but I don't think he will survive it either way.
What a sad day for all the families involved. There is no excuse for this behavior or covering it up. I hope all involved will be let go. My youngest just graduated from PSU this year and is heartbroken.
I never thought I would see the day that I would be embarrassed to be a Penn State Alumni.:(
Sick and sad! And tar and feathering not enough.
I cannot help but feel that way. Anyone who goes to Penn State, or lives in the area ( I grew up there too), knows that Penn State Football is like a religion. It is a way of life, a lifestyle choice, a part of my soul. It helped shape who I am. I feel that I have been dissapointed by a parent. I cannot help it. I guess this is how my grief will play out.
It is a lot like my obsession with Disney World. To me, Joe Paterno is like Walt Disney. The creator of the fantasyland that is Happy Valley.
I am very sad and disappointed that I will now associate something so horriffic with something so wonderful.
Just got an ESPN ScoreCenter alert that Paterno is retiring, effective the end of the season.
The whole thing is beyond....
Paterno won't get fired, I do believe he will resign on his own at the end of the season. Not really the way he wanted to leave...
He did report what he knew back in 2002. Penn State higher ups are at fault here.
So sad maddening, working in the field I do to hear that "At Risk Youths" were so horribly abused by someone they trusted. It is sick. These kids had enough on their plates without being sexually abused.
I hope and pray that justice is served, and this monster will never hurt another child again.
Penn State or not, this can not be tolerated!!
Julie
My understanding is that in PA, yes, he did not have to report to the cops. But I just heard a prosecutor from NY say that there, and many other states, he would have to report to police (or some other official agency.) How that's not a law in all states is beyond me.
It really is beyond horrible, truly unimaginable. I think the problem everyone has is that there is a big difference between legal obligations and moral obligations. The first instinct should always be to protect the innocent ... especially the children. If Paterno had knowledge and failed to follow up on protecting the victims, then he failed morally ... as a Christian, as a human being. He failed and so did the higher ups.
This is a quote from a good espn article today about the failures and the problem with power: "For each expression of outrage, we've been here before with the failures by churches, police departments and teams. Somewhere, each institution committed the fatal mistake of believing that power was not a privilege to be handled with great care and humility but instead a license to be above trust. The powerful often have forgotten whom they are supposed to serve."
I agree 100%!!!!
Ever wonder how he sleeps at night????? More victims are coming forward. He could have done something to STOP it, 9 years ago and didn't take it further. More kids were abused.
That's on him all for football? You know what, if he followed up with the police, Penn State Football would have gone on.
Legally he did speak up once and was shut down. Morally he failed on every level.
Pray for those who were so violated.
Julie
This story is so sickening. What a way for Paterno to go out like this! How could any of them not think about the poor children involved!!!? I know winning is important but my gosh.....never more important than the well being of a child! So sad what those kids have to live with!
I went to Arizona State, now live in CA, but our family used to attend the Fiesta Bowl in AZ every year for more than a decade. We saw many Penn State appearances and saw Paterno and their loyal fans win each game that they were there. Certainly a sad time for Penn State, but of course worse for the victims. Not the way anyone wanted to see Paterno leave Penn State or to have the events associated with the school.
Here's his statement... tell me this isn't arrogant and egotistical.
Quote:
"I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief.
"I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today.
"That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can.
"This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more. My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this university."
Yea Joe, you still have the integraty to tell the trustees what to do.Quote:
At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address.
Dignity? ... DIGNITY!?!?!?!Quote:
My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination.
Are you serious?
How is this guy not yet fired?
Paterno should not be allowed to finish the season. He showed a lack of integrity and should not be permitted to coach any more.
Today my daughter wore her 100 days to Thon shirt proudly. There is more to PSU than football. Let's hope the victims get the justice they deserve and the currents students are able to get back to their college routines.
It is interesting that this came to light right after I attended a "mandated reporter" training session on child abuse (I am a teacher in PA). According to the letter of the law in PA, Paterno is off the hook. All he had to do legally speaking was pass the information up the chain of command. For example if I suspect child abuse, or am told of an incident, I am obliged to report it to my principal and then it is up to her to take it further. Unless they can prove a case where there is no doubt he had knowledge of an incident and did not report it, he will not be charged. However, morally speaking, I cannot fathom how he would not continue to investigate this on his own and ask what the result was of the one incident he did report. Additionally, "mandated reporters" are free to contact police or ChildLine on their own if they don't think the higher ups have taken it further (although they are not REQUIRED to take this step).
I agree with all those that say he should not get to finish the season, and I do find it despicable that he did not follow through on the one incident he was notified of. This entire thing makes me sick to my stomach.
I just thought of somethong else. Are they gonna' let him coach his last game at Beaver Stadium and have some sort of farcical and ridiculous (not to mention inappropiate) farewell celebration?
Truthfully, I find what Paterno did at least a bit defensible. There are a lot of assumptions people are making about what he did or didn't do in terms of follow-up, but the truth is no one knows exactly yet what the facts are there. But he did report it to Schultz who is the head of campus security, so in theory he at least reported the incident (which he only heard about secondhand) to the authorities. Now did he or didn't he follow up ... that's another question.
But the guy I can't figure is Mike McQueary. I mean really ... if you witnessed what that guy witnessed how the heck do you just walk away and call your Dad?????? I would have jumped Sandusky and beaten him to a pulp. :mad:
I guess ... I'd like to think, though, that fifty years of giving back to the community, running a clean program, and being an overall pillar of the community should buy you something. Agreed these accusations are heinous, but let's not get carried away and forget that Sandusky is the real monster here.
I have to say it's been sort of annoying to me that Paterno is getting all the attention and Sandusky's name only gets mentioned in passing. I mean he's the real one people should be focusing their anger on.
I don't think people are giving the monster a break, but he's already arrested and out of there now. He will get his. People are outraged at the level of coverup and rightfully so, and Paterno is the face of it. He doesn't deserve to be crucified, but he does deserve some heat. We of course don't know everything.... whether he just turned a blind eye or was really oblivious to all this... I just don't see how the school can move on without removing every element involved in the case, big or small.
I will totally rip on Sandusky. He is a monster of the worst kind. He created a charity for down and out youths and used that pool of poor young men to prey on over a period of 15 years!!! Sick and twisted don't even begin to describe it.
No one here is giving Sandusky a pass at all, Ian. This thread is about Paterno, hence the name of it "Paterno Fired?" Mods get on people here all the time about getting off topic so people are keeping to the topic at hand. Paterno and McQueary both need to be fired, as do the administrators who did nothing. Sandusky needs to get all the justice he deserves and then some, including the devil doing to him what he did to those boys, along with many, many other things I can't mention here because I would be kicked off Intercot.
And, the Board of Trustees have met. Paterno is officially out, effective immediately.
I am not so much as embarrassed as I am disappointed. Don't know how long it will be before I wear a PSU t-shirt or jersey again.
Everything was handled wrongly, but to call JoePa and tell him he is fired is classless. Give the guy some respect and tell it to his face.
Whats more frustrating is Sandusky is barely mentioned in the news, since its all JoePa.
Icing on the cake is McQueary is still employed as an asst coach. Why didn't he go???
Truthfully as a Buckeye fan, after seeing our coach get fired for not reporting about some side deals his players were getting, not saying that it's right, it's not. It's just hard to think that they could have not fired him it's ridiculous! This is just way too much to blow over and the more details the worse it gets!
Who's next in the Big Ten.........
Lets blame Pryor !!!!!!!
I have mixed feelings about this. I hope the university can get past this. Hopefully now they can go after the the people that are really responsible for the crimes committed. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.
I think everyone is forgetting that SANDUSKY is the one who committed these crimes. Everyone can say Paterno should have done more- but do you know for sure he didn't? He got information about this 2nd hand- how about McCreary who witnessed this- did he do all he could to protect those boys.
After digesting all of the information...
Penn State acted a day late and a lifetime short for these abused kids.
They swept it under the carpet. Now they will pay millions. They took action WAY WAY WAY too late and let a predator continue to abuse right there on campus for years.
Sandusky WILL have his day in Court and if will hopefully spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Paterno has to live with not going to the authorities for the rest of his life, and he left the almighty Penn State under the worst scandal of the school's glorious history.
I'm glad they fired him. They took some action here, as little as it may be.
The Nittany Lions will continue on, Penn State will continue on, and I pray the victims can do the same.
There are NO winners here!
Julie
Hers's the truth, if you reported the incident to someone and you didn't see any action taken then you should have reported it to the police! That didn't happen, and I blame the janitor who saw the abuse, McQueary who witnessed as well, and anyone they reported to and stood by and did very little to nothing, including Paterno!
My take on this will be a little different so stay with me on this.
Sports locker rooms are like Las Vegas, What happens there stays in there. Whenever somebody reports the goings on in a locker room there usually is some back lash. (see Boston Red Sox)
McQueary was a grad asst coach at the time of this incident. He played at PSU and was now starting his profession as a GA coach. He was the unfortunate person to find this event happening. He does what he has been taught over the years keep it internal. He goes to the highest ranking person on staff. Joe Paterno, he reports it and thinks he is done. Here is where it gets a little muddy. Sandusky was McQueary's dad's college roommate and teammate. So his dad probably has spoken kindly about him over the years. He is now morbidly confused as to what to do. That was the easy way out. Tell the coach. The other reasoning behind this, he is smart enough to know what kind of drama this could lead to PSU and extra heat on his mentor, Paterno. This probably would have been brought out as a scandal and Joe Patereno may be asked to step down as coach. Who would hire the kid once it became known in the coaching profession that this GA took down one of the most storied coaches and instituions in college football. A lot to deal with as a 22 yr old kid. He didn't do all he could have, so cut him a little slack, but not much. There still is that moral right and wrong issue we all have to deal with.
My next point goes back to the buddy buddy network that is coaching, and who else really knew. Sandusky was up to be head coach at two different colleges, I can't remember which, but once he was invited back for a 2nd interview some one from PSU had called and messed up both jobs. He got neither. Who has that power to not get another guy a head coaching job?
So along those lines PSU doesn't have a lot of coaching turnover among its assistants. Case in point the new guy, Bradley who will be the interim coach the rest of the season. He has been around around PSU for 35 years! As tight as coaching staffs are, spending 15-20 hrs a day with each other. do you think this coach or these incidents were ever mentioned again?
What happens behind these walls stay behind these walls.
So now the onion will start to get peeled away, layer by layer and who knows when this will end. Paterno already has a criminal lawyer and not a civil lawyer. You don't try wrongful firings with a criminal lawyer. So there may be more we haven't heard yet. So don't be surprised with anymore news coming from PSU. I know I won't be.